Ben Zobrist Choosing Between Mets, Cubs

5:43pm: Zobrist is choosing between the Cubs and Mets, according to Rosenthal (Twitter link). The two have made comparable offers, says Rosenthal, so the decision comes down to which club he’d rather join. The Nationals are now on the periphery of talks, Rosenthal adds.

5:26pm:Heyman tweets that the Mets, Giants and Nationals are all willing to go to four years on Zobrist.

4:36pm: Rosenthal hears the same as Rogers — the Cubs are in on Zobrist, he tweets. However, Chicago would need other moves to come together before signing Zobrist. The Cubs, of course, have reportedly been discussing infielder Javier Baez with other teams. Starlin Castro’s name, too, has been frequently mentioned in trade rumors over the past several months.

3:39pm: Zobrist has at least one four-year offer in hand and could make his decision within the “next several hours,” Jon Morosi of FOX Sports tweets.

ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers adds on Twitter that the Cubs are “not out” of the Zobrist sweepstakes but also don’t seem like the favorite to sign him.

3:34pm: Contrary to prior indications, the Nationals have not met in person with Zobrist and don’t have anything lined up to do so at present, according to reports from Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (via Twitter) and Mark Zuckerman of CSNmidatlantic.com (Twitter link). But they have met with his representatives and the team has made a “nice, hard push” to acquire Zobrist, per a tweet from the Post’s James Wagner.

Janes provides a full quote from Rizzo, on Twitter: “We have plans, not necessarily to meet him face-to-face, but we’ll keep those to ourselves.”

1:46pm: Zobrist is talking over his decision with his wife and a decision could come as soon as this evening, his agent tells Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News (Twitter link).

1:03pm: A source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link) that there’s “no way” Zobrist has received such an offer.

Meanwhile, a source with the Mets says that the team did not make such an offer and wouldn’t match it, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.

1:02pm: Free agent infielder/outfielder Ben Zobrist has been as heavily pursued as expected, but his market is apparently reaching heights not previously anticipated. One unidentified team has made him a four-year, $80MM offer, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. He adds that the Mets remain the favorites to land Zobrist.

Needless to say, that’s an incredible figure to hear connected with Zobrist. Most prior estimates have pegged his anticipated value more in the $15MM annual range, give or take a few million. Despite his consistent excellence, Zobrist is no longer posting quite the numbers he did during his heyday and is entering his age-35 season.

One relevant comp that has previously been discussed is Victor Martinez, another older player who was coming off of a big season at the plate when he inked with the Tigers for four years and $68MM. While Martinez had obvious defensive limitations, whereas Zobrist can play just about everywhere, the latter is also not the offensive force that Martinez was. All said, then, there are some general similarities in their market outlook, and going all the way to eighty million would add an additional $3MM annually to what Martinez achieved.

The latest reports all suggest that Zobrist’s decision is coming soon, with the Nationals and Mets said to be leading the way. The Giants and possibly the Dodgers are also said to be in the mix, too. Of course, late-emerging mystery teams have driven up bidding on plenty of previous occasions, and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com did tweet earlier today that some believe other clubs could still enter the fray.

Probably the Dodgers. He already essentially said we were 4th on the list, and I struggle to see a reason he wouldn’t have already accepted a 4/80 deal if it were from one of his 3 favorites (Nats/Giants/Mets)

There is no need for Ben Zobrist to rush into a free agent deal this week. With so many teams showing interest in the versatile veteran his value will remain high throughout the offseason and may actually improve when some teams finalize decisions regarding players that might currently be hindering their attempts to acquire him.

The Cubs are one such team that would figure to be high on Zobrist’s wish list. Once they determine possible destinations for either Starlin Castro or Javier Baez, the opportunity for Zobrist to play 2B regularly (his offseason preference) may open up for him.

Zobrist would undoubtedly relish a chance to reunite with former manager Joe Maddon and finish his career with a serious World Series contender. The Eureka, Illinois native would also remain closer to his Franklin, Tennessee residence than some other locations, including N.Y or any out West.

The Cubs would benefit from having a switch-hitting, high OBP and low strike-out top of the order veteran presence in their young lineup. Maddon would love his versatility afield, even should the 2B position open up for Zobrist to play regularly. Maddon has never been bashfull about moving his players around in the course of a ball game with his micro-managing, especially now that he is in the National League. How many times did starting 3B Kris Bryant wound up in the outfield last season, or vice versa? LF Chris Coghlan often played 2 or 3 different positions during the course of a ball game, Ditto for Javier Baez, Starlin Castro, Kyle Schwarber and even Addison Russell. Zobrist is more than capable of doing the same for the Cubs with his ability to play as many as 7 different field positions proficiently.

I see Zobrist as a great match for the Cubs…and the Cubs as an excellent destination for Zobrist. He has an opportunity to finish his fine MLB career with the manager he started with, one who was instrumental in recognizing and trusting his versatility in the batting order and afield, who helped Zobrist become the valuable and winning player he is today.

This isn’t twitter, which I also post on. Intelligent and thoughtful baseball fans should be willing to read any comments that are thorough and make sense, sometimes necessitating a longer presentation.

I’m a Cubs fan and disagree, there is not a good fit unless both Castro and Baez are gone. They’ve already stated Castro is going nowhere. I like Zobrist, but I would not be happy if the Cubs signed him. This would be a horrible deal for the Cubs.

Starlin Castro is hardly untouchable. Javier Baez has reportedly been the centerpiece of multiple trade scenarios since the beginning of the offseason and continues to be so as I write.

Ideally, Castro should be the focus of trade discussions and Baez ought to be kept. Dispatching Castro’s contract would free up more money for the Cubs this winter. Aside from being more cost effective, Baez is the better defensive player and far more versatile, having the ability to play AND profile as at 2B, SS, 3B and the OF. I still worry about Castro’s focus in the field and have more confidence in Baez’ ability, to say nothing of Ben Zobrist’s.

I’ve already discussed what Zobrist brings to the table for the Cubs. There is nobody on their current roster who could fit into the #2 spot of their batting order better than him. If the Cubs can’t find a traditional lead-off hitter this offseason, preferably their new CF, Zobrist would also have the ability to bat #1. Keep in mind that manager Joe Maddon bats the pitcher #8 and has Addison Russell batting in the 9-hole. Zobrist at #1 would essentially be a 2-hole hitter after the 1st inning anyway.

Btw-I have been a diehard Cubs and White Sox fan since the early 1960’s. I know baseball and am well versed on both Chicago teams.

Castro isn’t untouchable, he’s untradeable. And you realize what you’re asking is for Zobrist to wait for the Cubs to possibly come calling, but only after Baez and Castro are traded. That wait might cause other teams to look elsewhere, lowering his price. In theory that is fine, but unless the Cubs are willing to pay what other teams are willing to pay now, it would never work.

Make no mistake about it, the Cubs have the financial resources to sign Zobrist now if necessary and deal with any potential moves of Castro and Baez as the offseason progresses. The Cubs are seeking depth now and few players in the FA market qualify like Zobrist.

Castro is neither “untouchable” or “untradeable”. His contract is actually quite team friendly as a plus starting middle infielder who has generated the type of offensive numbers he has in 3 of his 5 MLB seasons. There is also little reason to believe that Castro can’t improve upon that production as he approaches his prime years.

great post.. agree maddon is a very unique manager with a lot of energy.. easily can see Zoberist wanting to have him as manager again.. Can he deal with the small shower space at Wrigely quoted by greg zaun and be in same division as bucs/cards? Choose nl east with only the nats to worry about..

I’ve grown weary of all these sports columnists trying to be the first to break the story that they would just put it out in the ether right or wrong. It’s on the consumer too for craving such immediate info, but have a filter, writers.

Jeff Samardzija may very well have had a $100M offer on the table in this current pitching market. Had he waited a little longer, perhaps after Johnny Cueto or Mike Leake signs, he might have had multiple such offers.

“Shark” wisely selected the Giants, a contending N.L. club that plays it’s home games in, perhaps, MLB’s most pitcher-friendly venue. The $10M less might have been sacrificed for better career numbers and a better chance to recoup the money with more postseason appearances. Just saying…

Can’t say I buy this report, but imagine a world where Zobrist receives $20 million per year over 4 years… Could we then stop acting as if the cost for pitching is the only thing that has exploded in baseball?

Zobrist is very good at baseball. That wouldn’t be a shocking turn of events at all. I might not go as high as $20M because of his age, but I would offer 3 years @ $54M ($18M per) or 4 years @ $64M ($16M per).

Your absolutely nuts then, good reason fans aren’t general managers or president of baseball operations the owners would all be broke and the teams would still be terrible….whoever thinks he is worth 20 million a year is smoking some bad stuff

I love Zobrist, but I think his value is best suited around $15 mil per year. Forget the age, his biggest asset is his versatility – but all reports suggest that he’s looking to play 2B primarily. So this isn’t as much about worrying that a 35-year old player might immediately see a decrease in his production – it’s also about the idea of paying a 2B $20 million per year…

This guy is coming off of a world series win with the Royals and went along to give his daughter the middle name “Royal”. Kansas City not resigning him, to me, is a pretty clear sign that his price-tag is overwhelmingly through the roof. I wonder what the Mets players will think when his daughter – a symbolic reminder of their defeat is running around the clubhouse???

I can’t believe that a player like Zobrist is mentioned in the same sentence as “sweepstakes”. What the heck is baseball coming to? I really hope the Cubs would not be that dumb. They have a ton of talent already in the infield., I even like Castro better than Zobrist simply because he still has an upside. I thought he played terrific at 2B the last month of the season. I guess they would put Zobrist out in the OF, but they may as well teach Baez to play center if that is the case. The only position player that makes sense for the Cubs is Heyward. They need an upgrade defensively and someone with a little patience at the plate.

I’m completely mystified as to why this guy’s decision, which is down apparently to the Nats, Mets, and Giants, could have anything to do with the markets for guys like Heyward, Cespedes, Davis and Upton. I mean, only one of those teams could even conceivably be in on the big name guys, and that’s not very likely. What gives?

Do you guys remember Mark Derosa? He was a very similar player to Zobrist with similar stats, if not better than Zobrist in a few years with the Cubs. Can you imagine Dero ever getting this kind of money? The market is all messed up right now.

I can’t tell if you’re a troll or completely uninformed, but DeRosa is not a similar quality hitter to Zobrist. DeRosa had a career OPS+ of 95, while Zobrist has a 117 career OPS+. That’s not similar at all.

I don’t get it either, keep them and sign Heyward instead. Trade Baez if you must for pitching, but please do not sign Zobrist anywhere near the 20 mil/year. I’d take him on a huge discount, but the Cubs would be wise to spend elsewhere.

Bye way it would surprise me that the mistily team that offered zobrist 4-80million is Braves . They know he want to win and will over pay to get him. Hoping extra money will entice him to come to Atlanta which would be closer to his home then la sf or Washington or New York . Like Washington did with Jason Werth few years ago

So we just suffered through all that losing for the Cubs to give up on two young players for the chance to sign a marginally more talented 35-year old to a big money deal? Seriously… this would be the worst move Epstein has made since joining the Cubs. There’s not even a close second.

Over the last 3 years, Zobrist has a .274/.356/.413/.769 slash and 116 OPS+. During the same time, Castro has a .265/.305/.383/.688 slash and 89 OPS+. Castro has never had an OPS+ above 115 in any season and only been above 102 twice in 6 seasons. That’s not marginally better. That’s significantly better.

I really hope its the Mets, and not my Cubs. We have plenty of solid infielders, all we need is somebody to play CF and I don’t think Zobrist fits the bill. If they don’t sign Heyward then I guess Baez will be playing in CF next season.

Signing Zobrist will mean that Baez is likely gone.
That means that they’re likely still in talks with the Braves or Rays for pitching.
Hate to see Baez leave though.
He has the most upside of any second baseman in the minors.

Still don’t understand why Theo and Jed would be stupid enough to give
a guy entering the wrong side of his 30s even a 2-4 year contract.
They have to be thinking that they can get a starter or a cf fro Baez or Castro or
this signing does not make any sense at all.